Sasuke's Soft Side
by xx'Gothic-Manga-Girl'xx
Summary: Sasuke loves Sakura but cannot work up the courage to tell her. His perfect opportunity comes along when Sakura gets sick on a mission but can Sasuke open up his heart and finally allow himself to love? Read and find out. Sasu/Saku fluff. ONE-SHOT


**This is one of my first stories for Naruto. I posted it last year but I am re-vamping it, along with a few of my other stories. I thought that there needed to be more sick-Sakura fics since there's barely any on here. Please review and tell me what you think! ^_^**

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"ACHOO!" The loud sneeze broke through the silence as one Sakura Haruno bent over at the waist to quell the coughs that followed the sneeze. Sakura knew she was sick but decided not to worry her two friends, the dark Sasuke Uchiha and the bubbly Naruto Uzumaki, or her sensei, the perverted Kakashi Hatake, with her trivial issues.

Her team, being just a few metres ahead, heard the pinkette sneeze and cough coarsely and were instantly worried. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, concerned about his friend and former crush. Sakura put on her brightest smile to try to persuade her friends that she was okay; it was not working very well. "Of course, Naruto. I'm fine." It took all of Sakura's strength not to start coughing again.

"You sure don't look fine to me," Sasuke muttered, trying to mask his concern for his favourite pink-haired girl. They could all see that Sakura wasn't fine; she was pale, save for the dark red flush across her cheeks, and had been coughing and sneezing for over an hour. Sakura looked into the dark eyes of the Uchiha and forced herself to look healthy but she was failing miserably. "I'm fine Sasuke-kun, really. It's just a sore throat, that's all."

"Sakura, come here," Kakashi-sensei ordered after actually looking up from his 'book' to see how sick she really looked. Sakura warily went to her teacher's side and he placed his hand on her forehead to check how high her temperature was. Kakashi's eyes widened when he felt how hot his student's forehead was under his palm. "Sakura, you're burning up!"

She shook her head hurriedly which did not help her dizziness and smiled as best she could while holding up her hands defensively. She didn't want her teammates to worry and desperately tried to reassure them even as the spinning in her head increased. "No, no. I'm fine, sensei. Really!" Suddenly she sneezed again and moaned, clutching her head and stomach, "Ohhhh…I don't feel so good." She swayed heavily from side to side and collapsed, only to be caught by a certain worried dark-haired boy.

"Sakura? Sakura!" Sasuke called anxiously, shaking her shoulders slightly. He put his hand on her brow only to jerk it away immediately. He frowned, "Damn, she feels really hot." He carefully picked her up and cradled her in his arms protectively. He heard a pair of footsteps heading towards them and looked up to see a wide-eyed Naruto and an upset Kakashi standing over him. "She really doesn't look good." Kakashi's insight sparked an important thought in Naruto's mind. "What should we do? We're far away from the next town and we need to take care of Sakura."

"Normally I wouldn't agree with you, idiot, but Sakura needs to be cared for right now. Her temperature's too high and if we keep going she'll only get worse." Sasuke was anxious and wanted to get Sakura somewhere warm and safe where he could take care of her. She was curled instinctively to his chest, her face now completely red and coated in a sickly sweat, and was clutching his shirt as she whimpered from the fever. Sasuke had never seen her look so fragile and defenceless before and it made tears well up in his eyes to think about her suffering.

"Shh, Sakura, it's alright. We'll get you somewhere warm and safe soon, I promise." He hoped that she could hear his gentle words, he didn't want her to be sick and in pain, he wanted to help her. Even though he didn't show it often Sasuke cared very deeply for Sakura; she was the only thing he had left to care for ever since his clan had been murdered. He softly brushed away her pink bangs and looked down into her beautiful, feverish face and thought only about her.

Kakashi sensei sighed, "I guess you're right. We should find shelter until Sakura is feeling better. And quick, I can see a storm on the horizon." The two boys looked up to see that their sensei was right; dark storm clouds were building up just to the west and would probably burst within the hour. They would have to hurry to find shelter or else they would get soaked and risk Sakura getting even sicker. (AN: Sorry, I don't know if "sicker" is the correct grammatical form but it works in the sentence so whatever.)

Sasuke shifted Sakura gently from his arms to his back, securing her so that he could run while keeping her safe with him. Once Sasuke was sure that Sakura was safe on his back the team began to move out in search of shelter. As they ran Sakura cuddled her face into his neck and Sasuke felt a warm blush creeping onto his face at the feeling that went through him at the gesture. He could feel her warm breath against his neck and the soft 'thump' of her heartbeat against his back; both sounds made Sasuke's heart warm as they were the most significant sounds in his world.

"Sakura," he whispered to himself, "I'll keep you safe and take care of you, I promise."

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About an Hour Later

Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi were running through the forest, looking for a place to take shelter, and Sasuke was getting concerned that they wouldn't find anything and that Sakura would get even sicker. Just as he almost gave up hope a dark shape came into view and it looked like a cave. "Hey, over there! I can see a cave!" His team mates looked up and they began to jog towards the place that meant shelter for them. Sakura bounced limply on Sasuke's back as he ran. He willed his legs to go faster as the rain began to fall in heavy sheets, wanting to get Sakura to safety immediately.

He shook off the rain as he entered the cave, having had run ahead of the others. Slowly so he wouldn't cause her pain, Sasuke moved Sakura into the protective cradle of his arms. Sakura was beginning to shiver against his chest and he was starting to worry about her health again. "Kakashi sensei!" he cried to his teacher as he entered the cave with Naruto, "I think Sakura's getting worse." He looked back down to the precious treasure in his arms and, out of the corner of his eye, saw his teacher begin to move towards him and the pinkette in his arms.

Sakura was shivering as he held her; her face was pale, her cheeks flaming red, and Sasuke could feel the severe heat of her fever rolling off of her entire body in heavy waves. He pushed some of the bubblegum coloured hair that was plastered to her face with sweat behind her ears and gently caressed her hot cheek in his cool palm. He noticed that she sighed and leaned her face into his hand, taking comfort in his touch. His heart warmed at the thought that he was soothing her fever just by holding her. He did not notice that Kakashi had stopped coming towards them.

She whimpered weakly and opened her eyes half way. "Sasuke-kun," she croaked weakly, "What happened?" He looked down at her, his onyx eyes full of tenderness and relief, and crooned gently, "You passed out while we were walking. You have a really high fever and you've been out for about an hour. Sakura, why didn't you tell us you were feeling sick?"

She coughed weakly and turned into his chest a little bit, looking for warmth, and whimpered softly, "I didn't want to burden you, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke sighed and tenderly cupped her face with his hand and whispered sweetly, "You could never be a burden to me, Sakura-chan. You're far too important to me to be a burden of any kind. I'd do anything for you." She smiled meekly up at him and cuddled closer in his lap, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun. You're important to me too." With that she began to fall back asleep as he whispered softly while brushing hair from her face, "Rest, my cherry blossom. I'll always be here to care for you, don't worry."

From across the cave Kakashi watched his two students talk quietly and smiled when Sasuke tenderly held Sakura's face in his hand with a loving look in his eyes. He'd always known that those two belonged together and was glad that they were starting to see that.

Smiling underneath his mask, he walked over to them and placed a hand on her forehead. She was still very feverish and was going to get worse no doubt. "She needs you right now, Sasuke. She's going to be very sick when she wakes up and she'll need someone to comfort her."

Sasuke nodded, not taking his eyes off of Sakura's sleeping face. He wouldn't leave her for a moment, not if she needed him. That was the moment that Sasuke figured out something important. He loved her. He'd always loved her and had just never realized it. He, Sasuke Uchiha, loved Sakura Haruno. He loved that green-eyed, pink-haired, over-excitable girl and he was happy with that, it just felt so…_right_.

"Here you go, Sasuke. You can put her here." Sasuke turned and saw that they had set up a bed of blankets that Sakura could rest comfortably in. Rising with her cradled to his chest, he began to carry her to the makeshift bed.

Laying her down carefully, he tucked her in. She whimpered when he tried to move away and clutched his hand, "Please don't leave me, Sasuke-kun. You make me feel better." He knew this was a lie, but he moved back to her side and laid down next to her, cuddling especially close to her. At this, her viridian eyes widened and she sat up quickly, "Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't be so close to me! You could get sick!"

She tried to say it loudly but throat was so dry and she began to cough hoarsely from the force of her attempted shouts. He rubbed circles soothingly into her lower back as she coughed and then cooed in her ear, "I don't get sick, Sakura-chan. I have a very powerful immune system. Now you need to rest, so let's lay down and you can get some sleep. I'll hold you, okay?"

She nodded and let him pull her back down at his side, his arms wrapping around her shoulders and waist, her face pressed softly into his comfortable shoulder. She could smell his spicy, musky scent from where she was situated and it lulled her to sleep even faster.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun." she whispered softly as she drifted to sleep. He smiled, nuzzled his face into her soft hair and whispered, "Sleep well, my cherry blossom. I love you."

**That Night**

Sakura tossed and turned in the bed; her entire body was flush with fever, and moaned in pain. "Shh... shh... It's alright, Sakura. Just relax, sweetie." Sasuke was worrying over his love whose fever had grown rapidly worse through the afternoon and, as it was now the evening, she was absolutely on fire. He gently smoothed her hair away from her hot face and wiped it gently with a cold cloth.

He had gotten a basin of rainwater when her fever had started to increase and had been cooling her down using a cloth and the water ever since. She hadn't awoken since they'd arrived in the cave and they were all worried about her health. The storm outside hadn't lightened one bit and you couldn't even see too far outside the mouth of the cave. They had lit a fire just before nightfall and it was providing much-needed warmth and light for the inhabitants of the cave.

"How is she?" Naruto had been asking that question every five minutes since Sakura's fever had gotten worse and it was starting to grate on Sasuke's nerves. "For the millionth time, loser, I don't know. She's really sick right now, so if you'd stop pestering me, I'd like to take care of _my_ Sakura." The inflection on the 'my' was not missed by any of them. "Oh, so she's _your_ Sakura now, is she?" Naruto was _really_ getting on his nerves and Sasuke had no doubt in his mind that if Sakura was awake that she would be pounding his head in, even if she was sick.

"Naruto," he said with forced patience, "Go away, I don't want to fight you when I'm this close to Sakura. In case you have forgotten, she's sick." Naruto just huffed and turned away, storming to the other side of the cave. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his teammate's immaturity. Suddenly he heard a small whimper from his lap and looked down to see Sakura looking up at him with glossy green eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, why are you and Naruto fighting?" Her voice sounded so hoarse and weak that it broke Sasuke's heart. "Shh…Sakura. Sweetheart, don't worry, it's nothing. Naruto's just being an idiot, nothing unusual. Did we wake you?" She shook her head and nestled closer into Sasuke's chest, "No, my head hurts. Can you make it better, Sasuke-kun?" She pouted and looked up at him with those sweet, fevered eyes, he was powerless to resist her.

"Sure, cherry blossom. What do you want me to do?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes and croaked, "Could you sing for me?" Sasuke widened his eyes in disbelief. Did she not remember who he was? Sasuke Uchiha did _not_ sing, not even for the girl he loved.

"Please Sasuke-kun," she pleaded, using those big puppy-eyes again. His eyes softened and he crooned gently, "Alright, Sakura-chan. What would you like me to sing?" She shrugged weakly and whimpered again. Sasuke racked his brain for a song, then it came to him like a kunai to the head. A lullaby, the one his mother used to sing for him when he was young to be exact. He did not care that his sensei and rival/best friend were watching, he just wanted Sakura to feel better. So he sang for his love,

"_Flowered cherub sleeping,_

_Upon a gentle breeze._

_Taking up the giggling joy._

_Waking up to promise,_

_Better days ahead._

_Loving sweetly,_

_All the way._

_Sleep now,_

_My sweetest angel._

_My cherry blossom love._

_I'll not leave you,_

_Night nor day."_

"Sleep now, love." Sakura's eyes were shut, her breathing slow and even, and she had a small smile on her flushed face, all in all, Sasuke was satisfied with his work. Softly he kissed her not-as-hot forehead and laid her back down on the makeshift bed, tucking her in gently. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she breathed softly, only semi-conscious but still very grateful. He smiled gently and whispered, "You're welcome, love. Get some sleep."

The Next Day

Sakura woke up yawning, feeling about a million times better than she had the day before, and turned over to get closer to the source of warmth at her side. "Good morning, Sakura-chan. Are you feeling better?" She smiled sleepily and looked into the warm black eyes that were gazing at her adoringly.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun. Yes, I am feeling much better; you did a great job of taking care of me. Thank you." She leaned up and kissed the black haired ninja gently on the lips, then pulled away, giggling at the sight of his shocked but pleased face. Suddenly, he grabbed her closer and began t0 kiss her neck softly and then whispered in her ear, "So, Sakura…will you be my girlfriend?"

Her jade green eyes widened when her crush said those words and she threw her arms around his neck, "Of course I'll be your girlfriend, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke grinned cheekily and then leaned down to kiss her as he whispered, "Thank you, Sakura-chan. You won't regret this, I promise."

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There it is! Please leave comments; I love hearing what my readers think! Later! ^_^


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